Overview of documents concerning the COVID-19 pandemic by EMPA

"We want Ports Authorities to Prioritise the Safety of Maritime Pilots"

In this interview, the President of the African Maritime Pilots Association (AMPA), Captain Mohamed Rafouk who is based in Morocco speaks on how maritime pilots in Africa have coped since the outbreak. He also talks of their interactions with Port Authorities and what their expectations are.

ANTWERP - A pilot who visited the ship Minerva Oceania to lead it to the port of Antwerp appears to have become infected with the coronavirus.

“The current plight many seafarers are facing, unable to crew change or return home, is being described by many voices within the maritime community as the next humanitarian crisis.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Pilots' Association (UKMPA) has all been inundated with CV19 communications from all manner of sources in the last few weeks. Here is a condensed collection of information from the UKMPA.

Container ship TIGER MAANSHAN contacted berthed container ship (unidentified) and struck gantry crane while mooring at Hai An Port, Hai Phong, Vietnam, on Aug 10. Both ships sustained slight damages, understood container ship contacted by TIGER MAANSHAN left port on schedule. Gantry crane of German production, installed in 2012, is said to sustain serious damages. As of Aug 19, TIGER MAANSHAN was still berthed at Hai An Port.
Container ship TIGER MAANSHAN, IMO 9913559, dwt 26177, built 2022,...

AURIGA Group on Friday announced it had appointed the first female pilot in its business, as well as the first female leader of a reef pilotage business.

Grounding container vessel Shahraz and MV Samudra Sakti in Singapore Strait May 10 2020
What happened?
MV "Shahraz" and MV "Samudra Sakti I" had run aground to the shallow Batu Berhanti in the Indonesian territorial waters within 6 minutes, which is surveyed with minimum water depths of 8.3 m in the northern part and up to 0.5 m in the southern part . It is located south of TSS Singapore Strait’s eastbound traffic lane.
A chain of events which must be described as extra ordinary rarity....

USAID, through its Economic Resilience Activity (ERA), delivered a second pilot boat "Lotsman Bolotin" to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) to improve the efficiency and safety of pilots moving to and from vessels navigating the Danube ports.

According to "Buchan Observer": Peterhead Port Authority has introduced remote pilotage for selected vessels entering the harbour as part of a package of measures designed to reduce the risk of staff and users contracting the Covid-19 virus.

Some impressions from a sail on the Falmouth Pilot Cutter Pellew in October 2021. The Pellew was built by Luke Powell and his team in Truro at https://www.workingsail.co.uk/ between 2017 and 2020.
Trips on Pellew can be booked through Venturesail on their website https://venturesailholidays.com/voyage-finder